I WANT TO LIVE

We have recently received a YouthSpeaks grant to host an poetry/rap contest called, “I Want To Live” as a part

of their Brave New Voices cohort. “I Want To Live” will be exploring and showcasing personal experiences from young men of color illustrating the pervasiveness of racial profiling and police violence. We are hoping that we can bring people and organizations we’ve worked with to engage in a large community event that allows young men of color to express themselves and create positive change in our metro Denver communities.

While this is a slam poetry/spoken word contest, we will also be doing Project VOYCE style activities with elements of dialogue and deliberation that will help the audience and participants examine these two topics.

We are reaching out to friends of PV to spread the word about the contest and event. Here are contest details:

• Poets must be young men of color ages 13-19

• Entries must be filmed in front a black background. The shot should be of the poet from the waist up. Camera phone videos are acceptable and can be uploaded to youtube or sent to Project VOYCE. If needed, contestant can also contact PV if they need help with video entry.

• We will choose 15 poets from entries across the metro-Denver area to compete at our May 16th event.

• One poet will be chosen as the winner, the prize is an all expense trip to Atlanta to compete in the final “I Want to Live” contest hosted by YouthSpeaks. We will also have prizes for 2nd and 3rd place.